名媛直播

Hello - new to bonsai but this tree means a lot to me!

I went away and left it with someone and when I came back it was shedding leaves dramatically. I can never determine if it is under watered or overwatered but in this case I think it was under watered. I tried to water it a little more then repotted, but it doesn’t seem to be recovering..! Most of the forums say that it doesn’t need too much water, so I have only been giving it a bit since repotting, so the top of the soil feels damp.. but no water ever comes out of the bottom of the pot ( is this correct? ) Anyway I gave it a good drink tonight as Just giving it a little doesn’t seem to be working.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

Very anxious novice bonsai keeper

I can't see any photos.

One way to test whether it's alive or not is to scratch the bark and see what colour it is.

If it's green, it's probably alive.
If it's brown, it's probably dead.

Hope it helps!

Oh thank you I shall try that . This is a picture hopefully you can see it

You are killing this plant by
1 not watering anywhere near enough.
2 re potting when the plant is weak
3 using poor soil if it is not draining well/or not enough water
4 and you have it inside.

ChineseElm wrote: I can't see any photos.

One way to test whether it's alive or not is to scratch the bark and see what colour it is.

If it's green, it's probably alive.
If it's brown, it's probably dead.

Hope it helps!

The infamous scratch test. The bark on a tree has a very important purpose protecting the tree from insects and disease. Scratching the bark open opens the tree to things the tree does not want. While I do scratch the bark from time to time, it is to verify that a branch is really dead. If all the leaves fell off the tree three months ago, the scratch test will tell me that I really can stop watering it and reuse the pot for something else, but that is just about the only reason for doing this.